Gutowski, owner of Swift Printing Co., drew on endorsements from the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, Right to Life of Michigan, the United Auto Workers Union, and unions representing city police and firefighters in his campaign.

While the endorsements were important, Gutowski said the key was getting his supporters to the polls.

Sala-Baker, a clinical laboratory specialist in cytogenics at Spectrum Health’s Lemmen Holton Cancer Pavilion, said she and her volunteers knocked on more than 4,500 doors in the 1st Ward, which lies mostly on the city’s West Side.

A disappointed Sala-Baker attributed part of her loss to the low turnout. Only 3,458 voters participated in the election.

“Sometimes, people are very apathetic,” said Sala-Baker, who ran on a platform of fiscal conservatism. “I feel it really was a loss for the ordinary people.”

Sala-Baker also ran for the same post two years ago, netting 888 votes, or 23 percent of the vote in another three-way primary election.

At the polls Tuesday, voters at Straight Elementary School said they were satisfied with Gutowski’s first four years in office.

“We stuck with Walt. I think he’s a stand-up, honest fellow, “ said Mary Coffee, who showed up to vote with her father. “I don’t know who she is,” she said of Sala-Baker.

The 1st Ward was the only ward in Grand Rapids to have an election Tuesday. The races for 2nd Ward and 3rd Ward City Commission seats and the race for Mayor and City Comptroller will be settled in November.